Threatening Weather Helps
Brighten Corn-Futures Prices

CHICAGO -- China's purchase of U.S. corn, coupled with forecasts for threatening weather in the Midwest, pushed corn prices to nearly three-month highs at the Chicago Board of Trade.

Corn prices have been stuck at historically low levels on slow export business and on fears that ideal growing weather would lead to a robust 2001 U.S. crop. But Wednesday, prices broke out of the rut after China bought 165,000 metric tons of U.S. corn...